God.. this looks terrible.
No PVP at all? are you kidding me?
Why is this even an MMO?
The whole "side plot to the main plot" sounds really bad.
Why didn't they do something about the orcs and stuff banding together after RotK and having the alliance vs. horde. yeah, I know, sounds very LotR, but they could implement city capturing ala Planetside.
I wouldn't mind seeing if this offers anything more than what it sounds like it will, but I certainly wouldn't pay a monthly fee for this.

So what if it the game doesnt have pvp? Turbine concentrated more on the story part of it and i think that its all the better because of it. If you want great pvp go check out Warhammer Online and stop complaining about the improvements turbine has been making. I for one couldnt care less about whether it has pvp or not, let the other games concentrate on that and give me at least one mmorpg that concentrates on the actual story and im satisfied.

And on a closing note the game does have pvp if you actually looked into the game before declaring how bad its going to be.

So far from what I've read, there is no real PVP. I mean, it's LOTR. The whole world is just dripping PVP.

The story lines look kind of lame. I mean, doing quests for the main characters while they're on the main quest? That sounds pretty bad. A cop out imho.
Yeah, I'll definently be playing Vanguard and Warhammer.

I have to agree, at least in part, with hollownail. Only allowing you to be human, elf, dwarf or hobbit is effectively crippling the game. Why can't you be and orc, goblin, Uruk-hai, or any of the "evil" forces? One of the main attractions of ANY mmo is it's pvp. I don't personally think it should be the centre of the game (RF Online, Planetside, Lineage), but I like knowing that it is there (WoW, Eve).

A massively multiplayer onesided game is still only half the story. I'll consider this title if it ever adds the missing half.

So they did n-o-t ruin LOTRO There IS PvP in LOTRO - it's called monsterplay In monsterplay-areas you can play lots of different bad guys and monsters, maybe even Balrogs if you level up there. Doing this will also gain you points and stuff. Please visit the official site to read about it.

Really: who would like to play a poor Orc if all he could do was march along in a troop (they are gathering for the war, remember?), being whipped and never being given a fair chance against the good guys from the beginning - because we all know how this story is going to end for all Orcs? Giving the Orcs a chance to win and to run all over the Shire would ruin the whole LOTR-feeling, that's for sure. Thousands of readers and MMORPG-players who love the books would cry out if the story would be thrown over like that and they would boycott LOTRO. No company with sane minds would risk that

MMORPGs don't need PvP to survive, sometimes it can even ruin good MMORPGs, like Ultima Online had to invent Trammel and Felucca. Please post your opinions about possibilities of PvP fitting into LOTRO (an RPG) in the official forums, maybe Turbine will listen to your suggestions.

To some people, no pvp might sound pretty bad but possible reasons for leaving it out, at least in the time being, are understandable. First of all, doesn't really do to well to have a bunch of men slaughtering hobbits or dwarves and elves going at eachother again. Sure, there's ways around that but at the moment, that's their place on pvp. Might be remedied in the future, might not. Instead of whining, make yourself useful and suggest a few things. Oh, and if someone says anything about being orcs and goblins again, I WILL CUT YOU!

There isnt PvP in the sense that anyone can kill anyone else like most normal MMORPGs

Its more like WoW where you cannot attack your own side.

However you can dual eachother, and there is also monster play.

If you were suggesting to go down WoW route of adding the orcs etc, they have already said they cant. Why would anyone bother playing the loosing side, so even if it was available they would end up with 1/10 of the player base. As such the races would end up needing boosting and it generaly would just destroy the game.

Please remember this is LotR not WoW, as such these guys are taking the lore more seriously.

If you're a fan of WoW's instanced PvP, you'll likely love LotRO's version as well. From what we've seen, they share a lot of traits. Plus to those who really really want to play an orc or something like that, Monster Play is their chance. According to the preview on IGN about MP, it sounds very much like the old Dark Age of Camelot RvR PvP. Which is a darn good thing.

They most definitely did not RUIN the LoTR MMO. I am currently beta testing it, and this game is jaw droping in its content and visuals. The PvP feature in this game is monster play which is a shit-load of fun, and fresh new twist on PvP combat. Furthermore, the questline is absolutely amazing, loads of fun, and very interesting. The reason why they didn't allow for you to play in with main-plot line of the books (i.e.- being there with Frodo and company) is b/c...well duh, I don't remember reading the books and it saying that some dude named HjXCatman helped fight off the Balrog!! This game takes the lore from the books and expands upon it by creating an underlying storyline...which is very fun to play and is just as interesting.

This game has not ruined the idea of a LoTR MMO, it made it what it should be. Plus, you have to keep in mind that when WoW luanched it had lots of problems and that it only got the way it is today by being on the market for years and during those years getting numerous updates and overhauls, plus an expansion. Give LoTRO as many years WoW has had to grow and expansion, then this game will be your WoW killer...hell it pretty much already is!

Oh one last thing...Vanguard is horribly terrible and shouldn't even be considered an MMO...it should be called a POS along with the highly-overrated Warhammer game.

They most definitely did not RUIN the LoTR MMO. I am currently beta testing it, and this game is jaw droping in its content and visuals. The PvP feature in this game is monster play which is a shit-load of fun, and fresh new twist on PvP combat. Furthermore, the questline is absolutely amazing, loads of fun, and very interesting. The reason why they didn't allow for you to play in with main-plot line of the books (i.e.- being there with Frodo and company) is b/c...well duh, I don't remember reading the books and it saying that some dude named HjXCatman helped fight off the Balrog!! This game takes the lore from the books and expands upon it by creating an underlying storyline...which is very fun to play and is just as interesting.

They most definitely did not RUIN the LoTR MMO. I am currently beta testing it, and this game is jaw droping in its content and visuals. The PvP feature in this game is monster play which is a shit-load of fun, and fresh new twist on PvP combat. Furthermore, the questline is absolutely amazing, loads of fun, and very interesting. The reason why they didn't allow for you to play in with main-plot line of the books (i.e.- being there with Frodo and company) is b/c...well duh, I don't remember reading the books and it saying that some dude named HjXCatman helped fight off the Balrog!! This game takes the lore from the books and expands upon it by creating an underlying storyline...which is very fun to play and is just as interesting.
Apparentally, you havn't played WoW

Played this. played WoW... this is alot more fun, graphics are awesome, elves don't look like gremlins, and body parts are proportional! Best of all, no silly pop-culture references, no squatters killing a million goblins for xp, and AND it's based on the storyline that created the modern day fantasy epic.

This will satisfy me until Marvel can create a satisfying superhero MMO that shows COH?COV to be the tripe it is.

This game has not ruined the idea of a LoTR MMO, it made it what it should be. Plus, you have to keep in mind that when WoW luanched it had lots of problems and that it only got the way it is today by being on the market for years and during those years getting numerous updates and overhauls, plus an expansion. Give LoTRO as many years WoW has had to grow and expansion, then this game will be your WoW killer...hell it pretty much already is!

Long live LoTRO!

Click to expand...

There's a reason WoW has 8.5 million subscribers -- 8 million more than Everquest, which held the previous record. It shattered all previous records within just weeks of it's release.

If you seriously think that this silly LoTR MMO is going to impact the market at all and become the "WoW killer" you a complete moron.

It's fine if you have your own opinion that LoTR will be better than WoW - but the simple fact is, the insane popularity of WoW shows that it is something that other MMOs don't have and won't have for a very long time. WoW will be the number one MMO franchise for years and years to come.

That all being said, I absolutely love the LoTR series. I really want this to be a great game, but I know, and I think everyone knows, deep down, that this will fall massively short of the bar set by World of Warcraft - and so will Vanguard and Warhammer, just like all MMO's that have failed miserably since WoW's release.

I agree with you. Any thought that WoW will be more than marginally impacted by a new MMO at this point of time is delusional thinking. After a couple months of play time I feel that LotRO is a better game for me, but just because I like it better doesn't mean the entire MMO market is going to swing my way.

so, what, you're basing the entire quality of this game on the simple fact you can't go around ganking other players?

nice.

this isn't just an MMO... it's Middle Earth. sure, you have some humans that sauron seduced with power and whatnot, but mostly its The Free People of Middle Earth vs Sauron's minions. not this human here slaying 4 hobbits and a dwarf over there because "they're n00bs"...

as for not being able to play evil characters... so? get your evil fix by being a monster in MonsterPlay.

seriously, download the beta on april 6th and try it out for yourself. if you don't like it, then don't play it. simple as that.

enjoy a game for the merits it has, not because it doesn't have what some other MMO has.

I just want everyone who wants to be an orc to think about it for a minute. THis isnt WOW where there is no lore to stick to. In order to be an orc you would need a different game completely. None of the quests could be anywhere near what the quests are. Not to mention that areas like mordor have not even been developed yet.
Also I will not say that this game will be a wow killer, but it very different. There is very little grinding needed in this game. I like this alot. Its all quests and raids, beats killing 10,000 spiders.

The thing is they did not ruin the LOTR Online Mmo. Everyone is complaining say thing "OMG no pvp, this game sux!" But the thing is there is Pvp and it happens to be fun, real fun better then WoW Pvp and FF11 Online Pvp. The game LOTR has pvp, called monster play dur! Also not only can you play Monster Play quickly (once you reach lvl 10) but you can upgrade that Monster to a point of owning other players, or you can earn points to buy gear, items, and buffs for your main characters. In LOTR you can have 5 main characters and 5 pvp Monster Play characters. You can keep those monsters and upgrade them to things such as Wargs, Trolls, Spiders and much more! Its a perfect form of Pvp with the same thing as WoW with the whole, you earn points and spend them on gear, same thing in this game. Only reason they didnt make two sides Good and Evil is because 1) If they have a Helms Deep Event their of course going to make the Evil side Lose 2) At the battle of Minas Tirith the Evil side will lose and 3) If they expand into the 4th age Evil will be weak and slowly diminish. It makes NO SENSE to make two sides of good and evil because people would be ganking low level areas like the Shire and the Evil side in all sakes would LOSE no matter what, since this is following a story line from JR.

Only reason WoW can really make two sides is because all that game is good for is 10% of your time leveling to 60 and then to 70 and the other 90% doing PURE Raiding for one item. The reason that this game is MUCH MUCH MUCH better then WoW is the system, the graphics, the story line, the Events, that this game isnt for pure Raiders so being the best MMO person isnt required, and more. I could go on and on and on about how much LOTR is better with in depth item systerm, craft system, story line and ect...

They DID NOT ruin LOTR Online Mmo, infact they made a very good game with great detail and depth. WoW is for Raiders and those wanting to spend 6 hours on a single raid praying for a single item. LOTR Online is for those who wish to explore JR's fantasy Middle Earth and at the same time enjoy make items and finding secrets and tresures of the 2nd age. LOTR is for those who arnt the best at MMO's or just starting MMO's, even for people who are the best at MMO's. This game is for everyone who is just starting out, or has been playing MMO's for years. They took a combination of many other MMOs and upgraded and went into depth. If you think this game is a copy cat of Guild Wars and World of Warcraft you obviously dont know the original MMO's. Yes Blizzard made Diablo but Diablo was an original MMO and much others, infact the first role playing game im sure is Dungens and Dragons, a book and paper not a computer and controlers.

WoW people stop crying and saying this game sucks because of lack of Pvp and that its a copy, your not reading enough about this game or looking hard enough to find your evidence. 1 million players are invited to the open beta coming this March 30th. So many people have pre-ordered over 350,000 and more. Many people havnt bought the game yet because they want to test it first. Old WoW players and Guild War players and others are coming to this game because they are sick of the same old, raiding for hours on end without much of a life. If you think 6 hrs or more of your life is worth 1 epic item, then you dont know much about life or have one.

Im gonna pre-order this game. I stopped playing WoW because as one of the posters put it, raiding for hours for one freakin item wasnt worth it. Im not a fan of pvp (however this monster hunt sounds awesome) im more into PvE.

Well, I have a friend who has been testing out the beta and he wants me to get this as soon as it comes out. I won't just because I don't want to ruin my WoW addiction . Also, although I'm not too familiar with the games, didn't City of Heroes have weak PvP until City of Villains came out? Im probably totally off on this, but I think that a system like that could work, were you introduce another side into the game in an expansion. If they did that then it would give you a chance to explore both story lines thoroughly and then get the benefit of PvP. Just my thoughts.

End of story, after playing in the beta, it just plain rocks. I'm loving it and 95% of the people I've talked to do too. Hell, I've seen a few messages in the chat in the beta like.

"Selling level 70 UD Priest and 70 UD Rogue PST"

So many people I've talked to, and myself included, have been playing WoW since release and are bored as hell with that game even though it was awesome when it was fresh, and are therefore dieing to play a new MMO.

This spring/summer/fall, theres 4 or 5 AAA MMOs coming out, and although none of them are going to enjoy as much success as WoW, they're each probably going to take a nice chunk of players (500k-1,500k) and that adds up. You dont understand how many people have been playing WoW since release and are itching for a new MMO, and with half a dozen AAA titles, including LOTRO, AoC, WAR, and to some extent VG, a significant chunk of WoW players will migrate to them.

If you dont like the game, whatever, its not for everyone, although it is for most people. But you cant say they "ruined" it when there is a huge uproar of people in the beta absolutely loving it.

The problem with the LoTR MMO for me is that they based it on the books, not the movies.

I've been in the beta since early February, and - yes, it was fun. But it's far too ... Lord of the Rings dork friendly.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the books - but in my head, I have my own idea of what Middle earth is and looks like, but this is an interactive game, and it kind of shoves it down your throat. The movies however, were just good movies. Yes, they were based on the books, but they were fantastic in their own right. I would be happy to play this game if they had only not trounced upon the books.

...stop...all of you stop...i played wow for a good 2 years...and after playing the LoTR beta i can say one thing...why did i waste 2 years of my life....im not delutional i dont think its going to shut down wow because there are too many idiots who only care about maxing out the lvl of there chars. and pvp...but i do think that it will replace wow for many people...and yes it dose have over 600k pre-orders now.

its does have pvp and pvmp.has great story and graphics...if ya comp can show them like mine can.and the best thing about it.it aint wow.so all you na saying childish wow fan ass hats can go back to wow,we dont need you here.

I know next to nothing about this game. Before I heard that it was coming out, my friend and I were casually chatting about how we really wanted to see a big RPG based on the Lord of the Rings theme. I am not so sure I want to play a different MMORPG that I'd have to pay monthly for (I'd rather just go back to FFXI if I pay for one because I know it is good). They could have easily released a real huge RPG, and even possibly charged more than the normal $50 or $60 for it. I'd definately buy a console version without hesitating.

Everybody has failed to mention monster play. Or maybe none of you read the back of the box or the instruction manual. Aside from it letting you play as an Orc, Uruk,Goblin, and I think a spider I believe it says there is one area in the game where your monster can pvp with OTHER players... Read the instruction manual.

I agree with the poster, I can't say they truly ruined it, they just made it as bland and straight forward as possible, there's nothing new or interesting, it's the same run-of-the-mill Everquest/WoW-type MMO people have been paying for since the Sprite days.

However I will say something of one fascinating feature, music, my cousin let me play around with, I think it's two octaves? He informed me they would let you hold the notes in an update and also were adding two more octaves, that could be an extremely fun feature once they give it a good fleshing out.

I dont mind no pvping or mass raiding for 6+ hours. I like the hwole teamwork thing. The game is based on skill and grinding. Not just pure grinding. Taking down a boss takes skill. Taking down a boss in WoW or Runescape takes Grinding. Guild Wars takes skill also.

I think that skills are more important than grinding. When you grind for exp, it makes the game boring. When you need skill, the game is more fun and challenging and interesting.

I just wanted to just drop in and say that the opening claim on this topic about LOTR dripping PVP is rediculous. I love the whole world of Middle Earth and all, but the place is very one sided. Yeah, we know the names of...3 or 4 bad guys - so what, if that's what is takes then Ninja Turtles would have killer PVP.

Worlds that would have great PVP play are ones with esily identifible factions that are each well defined with full sets of player types. Best example I can see? Warhammer. Others would be Warcraft, Star Wars,...and more stuff we're already seen.

The "evil forces" don't have a strong variety of races or class types. Yes, they could creat it, but it wouldn't be in character of what we've seen of Tolkiens world so far. A Harry Potter MMROPG where you played as Order of the Pheonix or as Death Eaters would be more in character with it's initial world than a Lord of the Rings with Alliance vs. Horde.

(P.S. - just cause it wouldn't be in character with the universe so far doesn't meen it'll fail or be boring, I'm sure it could work and be fun)

God.. this looks terrible.
No PVP at all? are you kidding me?
Why is this even an MMO?
The whole "side plot to the main plot" sounds really bad.
Why didn't they do something about the orcs and stuff banding together after RotK and having the alliance vs. horde. yeah, I know, sounds very LotR, but they could implement city capturing ala Planetside.
I wouldn't mind seeing if this offers anything more than what it sounds like it will, but I certainly wouldn't pay a monthly fee for this.

They most definitely did not RUIN the LoTR MMO. I am currently beta testing it, and this game is jaw droping in its content and visuals. The PvP feature in this game is monster play which is a shit-load of fun, and fresh new twist on PvP combat. Furthermore, the questline is absolutely amazing, loads of fun, and very interesting. The reason why they didn't allow for you to play in with main-plot line of the books (i.e.- being there with Frodo and company) is b/c...well duh, I don't remember reading the books and it saying that some dude named HjXCatman helped fight off the Balrog!! This game takes the lore from the books and expands upon it by creating an underlying storyline...which is very fun to play and is just as interesting.
Apparentally, you havn't played WoW

I played wow for over a year, as far as I am concerned, WoW can take the last 15 bucks I payed and cram it with walnuts, only because you enjoy Honor grinding in AV doesnt mean you have to bash LOTRO because you cant do the same thing on it.

This game is awesome. The main reason I chose it was no PvP, mainly because I won't buy a game without researching it first and by the time you decide whether to play or not your already so far behind you get ganked as soon as you log on. Yeah,fun, wow. This game allows people to work toghether but also play solo if you want. Best of both worlds. And because you don't have people trying to kill each other, there is less trash talk and immature behavior than plagues most MMORPG's. So I guess you could call it a grown-up, thinking mans MMORPG thats a heck of alot of fun to play!

Just bought this game and think that no pvp at all (ignore 'monster play', it's not the same) takes the edge of it. All they needed to do is put in areas that weren't safe i.e. any dangerous areas to the east of the map, that could contain pvp. Eve works awesomely in how it's pvp works.

I'll play this for a few months, but fighting against AI has never held my attention in a game for more than that.

How retarded...I HATE it when people exaggerate their whole concern with a game by calling the entire game crap. This idiot didn't research monster play obviously, or the fact that you can duel. I even made a loremaster just to show the dumbasses that call it an "underpowered" class what you can do when you have a brain. He solo's and he ROCKS! I canceled my WOW account the day I bought the game. How can ANYONE who likes fantasy not like this game? The entire fantasy genre comes from Tolkien's work! Artards, all of them!

It's quite a relishing experience. While I wasn't a claimant to WoW's MMO blitzkrieg, and this was my first MMO... I enjoyed it immensely.
I could care less what a few fanboys say since I'd rather always compare a game on its own merits and what it wants to achieve.

LOTRO is, after years, a fantastic realisation of the world that Tolkien has crafted so meticulously. Mixing together the action from LOTR games past with the camaraderie and landscape appeal of the RTS titles, we've got a melange of genres that work perfectly for this universe. Yeah, like I said, my first MMO.

Thus I think the beauty in this game lies in the detail, the overarching plot and the whole spirit of Arda. Those little gameplay additions are forthcoming I'm sure, but until then, my play experience revealed a fun, enjoyable title that knows and loves it audience.